Jacksonville Developmental Center: A look inside

Tuesday

JACKSONVILLE -- Dr. David Iacono-Harris got a hug from his son Jonathon while they were in the Gillespie Residence Hall Monday at the Jacksonville Developmental Center.

JACKSONVILLE -- Dr. David Iacono-Harris got a hug from his son Jonathon while they were in the Gillespie Residence Hall Monday at the Jacksonville Developmental Center.

Surrounded by journalists invited to visit the facility, it was Jonathon’s response to a reporter’s question if he had friends at JDC.

“Now I don’t know where he’s going to end up,” said Iacono-Harris. “The governor keeps closing developmental centers. I don’t know where the closest one will be.”

If Gov. Pat Quinn gets his way, Jonathon and 184 other residents of the Jacksonville Developmental Center will be moved out and the facility shuttered by the end of the year. The administration wants to move the residents from a large state institution into community-based settings where some advocates believe the developmentally disabled will thrive.

Iacono-Harris said that might be the case for some, but not for his son, whom he described as moderately mentally disabled and severely emotionally disturbed.

“He cannot live in a community setting,” he said. “He tried to do it twice. He has literally physically destroyed two group homes. He is not a candidate for the community.”

Range of abilities

The visit to JDC underscored the wide range of independence of the center’s residents. Many residents of Gillespie were away from the hall during the media visit, working at jobs in the community. A handful of others, though, were still in the residence hall, given simulated work to do in the building.

There are 12 residents in a unit for the “medically fragile.”

“Persons who live here need more hands-on (attention),” said Donna Day, administrator of the building. “A lot of them who live here need a tube to get nutrition. They require a nurse to be more readily available to them.”

In one dining room, picture boards are placed on the tables. The boards have pictures of things like forks or plates or napkins. They are for residents who cannot otherwise communicate their needs.

“They’ll point to a picture of a plate or napkin and this helps us know what they need because they can’t vocalize,” Day said.

Many of the residents’ rooms are personalized with pictures and other objects. In one area, staff members were beginning to put up decorations for St. Patrick’s Day.

“Inside the building, we try to make it as homelike as possible,” Day said.

Rep. Jim Watson, R-Jacksonville, said people sometimes picture JDC as a virtual dungeon for its residents.

“The impression this is a stale environment I don’t think is accurate,” said Watson who also toured the facility Monday. “You see these rooms are like dorm rooms. I would argue some of these folks here live better than a lot of our senior citizens who go to nursing homes.”

Needs repairs

Administration officials say one reason to close JDC is that it is in need of millions of dollars in repairs and upgrades.

“You are seeing an aging facility that is going to need significant repair over the next two to five years,” said Kevin Casey, director of the division of developmental disabilities for the Department of Human Services. “The boiler is a real problem.”

The boiler is so old replacement parts must be fabricated individually because they are no longer manufactured.

Although the residence halls show signs of use, there is nothing wrong with them, Watson replied.

“Just because the facilities have some age, they are structurally solid,” he said.

Watson also doesn’t believe administration assertions that closing JDC will save the state money.

“There are medical costs and other social costs that come with this process,” Watson said. “This is a public safety issue. There are violent tendencies with some of these individuals.”

Casey insisted that “in my opinion, there’s no one who lives (at JDC) who we can’t provide good community programs for.”

But several parents at Monday’s tour said they simply don’t believe that is the case. Donald Pannier of Washburn said his son, Ben, has twice been in community-based programs.

“They did not work out,” Pannier said. “He’s been here for 11 years. He’s doing wonderful.”

Pannier said the difference is the quality of help at JDC. He disputed Casey’s contention that an appropriate community setting can be found for all JDC residents.

“If they aren’t walking in our shoes, how can they make judgment calls?” he said. “We tried community placements before. What happened wasn’t good.”

Doug Finke can be reached at (217) 788-1527

Hearing March 7

The General Assembly’s bipartisan Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability will hold a hearing on the plan to close JDC on March 7 in Jacksonville. The hearing, which will start at 5 p.m., will be held at the Bruner Recreation Center at Illinois College.

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